Cold Hearted
by TheAmethystPoet
Summary: Winter Soldier x OC Death. Pain. Struggle. Light. Darkness. Both of them have been subjected to all those, not knowing when rest would ever come. Both have been through too much. Both have been broken, toyed like puppets by HYDRA. She's escaped; he hasn't. Through coincidence and Fate, she's forced to return. They meet: the Winter Soldier and a Queen of Death. What now?
1. Introductions

**Chapter One**

 **Introductions**

 _Violet Winters_

 _The Queen of Death_

"Hey, science freak, what are you doing here?" a guard's voice asked her right before a crumpled ball of paper hit the back of her head. The guard chuckled to his friends. "She's so slow. If she really were an Enhanced, she would have avoided it. What a loser."

 _Calm down, Violet,_ she told herself, _They're not worth it._

"Don't tease her, Davis. Miss Winters did an excellent job yesterday," a new voice said. She recognized that voice; it was Mr. Shang.

"In fact," he continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if she went on this career. It's perfect for her. Now, Violet, I expect you in the conference room this afternoon. I have a new assignment for you."

"Yes, Sir."

Mr. Shang's bright blue eyes stared at her own before nodding. "Good."

Fifteen years later

Lilly raised her glass before speaking, "A toast. To our very own scientist, the mind behind the curtains, Violet Winters."

Five more glasses met hers and they cheered before drinking their wine. The celebrant downed hers reluctantly as her friends gaily drank theirs. She put down her glass with a sigh before standing up and excusing herself to get some air.

"Is something wrong?" Karen asked.

"Nothing, Piage. I just want some air. Don't wait up for me; go ahead and celebrate," she replied, easily lying before going out of the club, passing through compactly pressed bodies on her way out.

Once outside, she gripped her bag tightly before walking aimlessly around. She had passed three blocks when a sleek black car stopped right beside her and three men in suits stepped out. At that, she tightened her grip on her bag.

"Miss Winters?" the one in the middle asked, taking off his glasses without waiting for an answer. "I'm Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. I understand that you used to work for HYDRA."

Violet kept silent, keeping a cool mask. She couldn't let her emotions show, that would be a terrible mistake.

"We'd like to ask you to come with us," Coulson said with an undertone. If she resisted, she would be taken by force.

"On whose orders?" Her voice was calm, betraying no emotion as she stalled.

"We're not at liberty to discuss that," was the reply.

After a moment, she nodded and got in the car, turning off her phone as she did so. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice that their conversation was heard by her companions. Hopefully.

"You're a hard woman to find, Miss Winters," Agent Coulson told her once they started moving before scanning the folder his companion gave him. "It says here you've been to practically every country in the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, that usually means you're trying to hide, or you're looking for something. Which is it?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that," she threw his own words back at him.

Agent Coulson wasn't fazed. "Alright. Here's what's going to happen, you accept the mission we give you, or you say no and go to holding. Those are your best options. If you say no, we have permission to treat you as hostile and use any means necessary to subdue you. The choice is yours."

"What's the mission?"

"We need you to work for us, train under us before going undercover at HYDRA."

"And you need me to do this because?"

"You'll see. Do you accept?"

Violet thought about it. She could easily escape but did she really want that blood on her hands? She shook her head; these guys would be easy. She didn't even need to knock them out. She just needed to get to HYDRA. The way these guys talked about them… it made her curious about the organization once more.

"I need to call my friends. Can we stop for a while?" she asked them.

Agent Coulson shook his head. "You can call them once we get to base."

She silently cursed. She did have to knock them out. Grabbing her bag, she took out her vial.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It helps calm me down," she lied before crushing it, making its vapor travel in the vehicle.

In a flash, the other two who weren't driving pulled out their guns and aimed at her. They were about to speak when, suddenly, they went limp. The car spiraled out of control as the driver froze and, quick as a flash, Violet pulled the emergency brake.

It was too late. The car went towards a building and crashed right into it, shattering glass. Luckily for them, despite the car itself being wrecked, they were unharmed, save for a few cuts and bruises.

"Geez, I'm losing my touch," Violet muttered before seeing Coulson's face. "Sorry for lying, Agent, but you should have seen it coming."

Breaking the glass window, she got out of the car, running towards her apartment as fast as her legs could carry her.

 _Curse my stupidity for letting them track me like that. I should have known better. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm an idiot._

Upon reaching her apartment, she got all dolled up before packing her things. She was about to leave when she saw some agents knocking down her door. She cursed. How could she be so stupid?

Grabbing her suitcase, she jumped onto the roof of her garage. Unlocking it, she took her motorcycle and fled to the only place she knew she'd be safe from S.H.I.E.L.D. Sadly, that meant HYDRA.

* * *

"Well, well, well," Alexander Pierce said as he approached her. "The prodigal son returns, or should I say, daughter. What brings you here, Miss Winters?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. came looking for me," she replied as fifteen soldiers surrounded her. "I needed a place to stay."

"You can't just stay here, Violet. You, of all people, should understand that."

"I know. I'll work for you," she said.

"We have enough scientists."

"I wasn't just talking about science, Pierce," Violet told him. "I can still fight, you know."

He scanned her up and down. She did look the same as when he last saw her, despite the fact that she was older. If anything, she was taller, and her hair was much longer than her haircut when she was with them.

"Prove it."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He took it as a sign to continue.

"Fight our best assassin: the Winter Soldier."

Violet showed no emotion, looking as calm, cool and collected as ever.

"Alright, I will. Let's do it now, in the training cage." She paused. "Unless you changed the structure of this place."

"No, no," he said with a wave of his hand. "The training cage it is. Get ready, Miss Winters. If you lose, you'll die."

With that, they walked towards the training cage and she faced her opponent.

* * *

The Winter Soldier, or James Barnes, would be completely intimidating to anybody else who saw him. His hair reached his shoulders, framing his face, which was mostly hidden his mask, save for his eyes. His eyes were dark and mysterious, piercing into her own midnight blue ones. He, of course, had a metal arm and, for a second, she stopped to admire the detail embedded into it.

"Soldier," Pierce stepped forward. "Your mission is simple: fight her."

Violet resisted the urge to eye roll, causing her to almost miss the movement of her opponent. He had run forward, trying to catch her in his grip.

She dodged to her right before running to put some distance between them as they both analyzed each other for a while. He was tall, taller than her by around six inches. He relied more on his metal arm, which was understandable, but she guessed he was overall skilled in combat.

 _It's simple,_ she thought to herself, _He relies on his strength so I should avoid getting caught at all costs. Speed is my best weapon; swift yet strong hits are my way to win._

She processed all that in a second and waited for him to attack, wanting to look and see for any openings. He rushed forward and she quickly noted that he was almost as fast as her. She silently cursed. This match was going to be close.

The moment he got nearer, she blocked his arm and landed a square kick to the chest. He wasn't fazed by the attack but his eyes held a little surprise in the way she managed to block his punch.

Violet grinned before running towards him, her boots making an audible sound as she ran and launched herself in the air, aiming a kick to his face. He saw it coming and dodged, making her hit air. She landed perfectly on both feet and dodged yet another punch, followed by another and another.

Despite her doing nothing but dodging, she realized she was wearing out quickly. At this rate, she would never take him out. Once his flesh arm aimed a punch at her, she grabbed his fist and flipped him over, almost being hit by his metal arm in the process.

Once she got him on the ground, she retaliated with a punch of her own, which he caught easily. She cursed silently as he squeezed her fist and punched her square in the jaw and making her go backwards. Getting up, he aimed a kick at her chest but she rolled between his legs, hitting his groin in the process.

Showing no emotion but a slight wince which only she saw, he turned around and continued attacking. Taking a breath, she cursed herself for having weak lungs. She knew she had to end this now, or she would definitely lose.

Quick as lightning, she closed her eyes and let her instincts take over. Dodging a punch, she kicked him in the face before following with a kick to his ribs. Immediately after, she flipped him over and pinned him to the ground before he could recover. Positioning herself so that she was basically straddling him, she pinned his metal arm to the side of the cage using a pair of cuffs she nicked from the guards.

Her opponent instinctively tried to pull away. Using his distraction, she pinned his other arm to the ground and started to choke him, blocking his airway. He struggled, hard, but she kept going at it anyway. She had to. She couldn't fail.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he gave up. Going limp, he tapped the ground twice using his other arm.

"Enough, Violet," said Pierce.

Instantaneously, she let go, somersaulting and standing up properly. She faced him and masked her face once again.

"I see you're still our best fighter, then. You'll go with the Winter Soldier in his assignments. You'll be back-up," he told her. "Someone will go to your old room and give you your assignment when needed. I trust you don't need someone to show you around."

"No, Sir."

"Good. Don't disappoint me, Miss Winters."

"Have I ever?" she asked him.

He chuckled. "Never. Welcome back, Violet."

He left after telling a guard to get both her and her opponent to a medic. Her eyes went to her opponent as he got up and followed them to the clinic, walking beside her as he did so.

"You're quite the legacy around here, Miss Winters," said the guard escorting them. "I wasn't here to see you personally, of course, but I heard enough stories. Is it true you were the one who killed that Russian scientist ten years ago?"

"He was Iranian, Mr. Penton, and it was eleven years ago," she corrected him. "But if you're referring to that particular assassination, then, yes. I killed him, using his own gun. A bullet to the lungs, filling them with blood."

The guard winced slightly. "Damn. That's gotta hurt."

"Keep talking and you'll know for sure," she replied with a glare.

That shut him up.

Violet glanced at her companion who was silent the whole way. "You're the Winter Soldier, huh? Your punches were pretty good, but your endurance is particularly interesting. You're one of the few people who can withstand more than one of my kicks and still be breathing. How's the rib?"

He looked at her coldly, but she found curiosity behind the façade. He placed a hand on his broken rib before speaking. "I've been worse."

She stared at his eyes, searching for something warm. It was there, hidden away. She blinked twice when she realized what she was doing.

"We're here," the guard announced in a small voice, opening the door to the clinic.

Violet stepped in and saw things had changed indeed. There was a familiar contraption in the middle of the room; it was for the Winter Soldier. He directly went there and strapped himself as she sat on a chair, waiting.

The doctor, an elderly woman came in. Her eyes scanned the room and showed very little surprise when they met hers.

"Hello, Violet. I see you've returned."

She made no answer to the greeting, prompting the doctor to go to work on the other person. She examined the damage on the arm, running her fingers across the surface.

"My goodness, what did you do to this?" she muttered under her breath.

Violet stood up and approached them, her wounds already healing. "He fought me, of course. What else would you expect?"

The doctor sighed. "You should have more self-control, Violet. Do you know how much this costs?"

She ignored that. "Can I?"

"To anybody else, I would say no. But, this is you. Go ahead."

She sat on the chair, her eyes studying the mechanisms as he stared at her warily. Getting right to work, she repaired his arm, smoothing out the dents caused by their fight and upgrading the wiring used.

In a few minutes, she was done. Stepping back, she admired her handiwork and smiled for a split second, proud of herself.

"Why did you have to fight anyway?" the doctor asked her. "I mean, I understand why but why didn't you just show him your card. You still outrank him, you know."

Violet ignored her and faced the Winter Soldier instead.

"Let's start over." She held out her left hand. "I'm Violet Winters."

He grasped her hand with his metal one. "I'm the Winter Soldier."

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _And that's the end of Chapter One. I'm trying out different writing styles now, so forgive me if this is too sloppy or cringey. Also, this has not been beta-read; I check the grammar and spelling myself. Feel free to point out mistakes nicely. Thank you for reading. Have an awesome day!_**


	2. Allies

**Chapter Two**

 **Allies**

 _Violet_

Violet stared at her room; she had been given a room to share with Barnes when HYDRA moved bases. Her new roommate-slash-partner was nowhere to be found, as usual. He was often gone, leaving her to deal with the room in any way she wanted.

Its walls were an icy blue decorated with white and dark blue winter-themed designs while its ceiling was a midnight blue with glow-in-the-dark stickers arranged in constellation patterns. The beds, one with a dark violet duvet and one with a gray one, were at different sides of the room and there was only one shower. All of it was her idea and the money had been supplied by outside acquaintances.

Realizing she had to speak with her partner, she got up from her bed. With a sigh, she went out of the room, dressed in her usual get-up, and proceeded to head to the training room. HYDRA was rich, to say the least, and she had complete access to its facilities.

Finding him was easy. After living with him for two months and being on five assignments with him, she started to understand him. Slowly, of course, since he barely spoke, but it was better than nothing. This time, she found him beating the heck out of a punching bag. His eyes were focused entirely on the bag but she caught them taking a glance at her.

"I think that thing has been beaten to death quite enough," she commented, standing right next to the said thing, not even flinching as his metal arm missed her face by a mere centimeter.

He stopped, glancing shortly at his knuckles before fixing his gaze on her. As usual, his eyes were cold and wary, just like the ones she saw in the mirror every single day.

"Pierce has a mission for you," she informed him. "Miss May went to our room but you weren't there so she asked if I could pass the message."

"Who is it?"

Violet rolled her eyes, a bad habit she seemed to do only around him. "Geez, lighten up. You sound like me from five years ago."

He stayed silent but his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly and she caught the movement in the corner of her eye. Instead of saying anything, she decided to move to the next nearest punching bag and started to attack it.

"What's the mission?" he finally asked her.

"Nicholas Fury," she replied easily as she kept punching. "There's a folder on your bed that says practically everything we know about him."

He nodded once, his eyes flicking to her face before leaving.

Violet shook her head. She was seeing things.

* * *

 _James Buchannan Barnes_

 _The Winter Soldier_

The Winter Soldier opened the door to his room, no, their room. He was sharing it with that odd girl, Violet Winters. He looked around. Everything was the same. The walls had winter designs, no doubt his partner's idea. She was weird, for a HYDRA agent. The way her eyes followed his every movement, not missing a single detail and not paying attention at the same time; the way her hair was tied up in a ponytail despite the usual low cut; the way she moved so defiantly but followed every order…

He shook his head. Thinking about her would do him no good. She was his partner and while that meant they had to trust each other, he wasn't a hundred percent sure that she was telling him everything about herself. She had this way of making you think you had her figured out, as if you solved her puzzle, and then she opens up a new piece of herself, scrambling up the puzzle pieces all over again.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked himself. He was getting distracted lately.

Lucky for him, however, he had a mission. And that meant that he had something new to do, something that didn't involve his weird partner. She was usually his back-up but Pierce seemed more eager to test her loyalty than her skill, resulting in her having to terminate all the past targets. He wasn't complaining and neither was she, but he picked up that she was much more uncomfortable with taking a life than she let on.

 _If I keep thinking like this, I'll be wiped all over again,_ he thought to himself as he pushed those dangerous thoughts to the back of his mind.

He was the Winter Soldier.

A master assassin.

A trained agent.

A cold-blooded killer.

And nobody was changing that. That was all he was, all he is, and all he would ever be.

* * *

"Hey, Snowflake." His partner popped her head in the room. "It's time to eat dinner. What do you want?"

He just stared at her, silently wondering why she would care. She could have demanded a higher position; anybody who beat him in a fight could. And yet, she was content in being his partner, content with being a sidekick.

"I'm getting some pork and rice. I'll be right back," she told him after a while.

The Winter Soldier just nodded. He wasn't in the mood to eat but if he didn't, she would go on a rant and he was too busy to listen. It often seemed as if she was there to take care of him instead of being his partner. She was too nice, too soft, when dealing with those matters. In a fight, she was just like him, cold and quiet, letting results do the talking. But when it came to everyday life… she was annoying as heck. What was up with that?

"Yo, Snowflake," came the cheery greeting as her voice pulled him back to reality. She passed him a plate as she set the food down on his bed. There was silence before she spoke again. "A conversation is when two people exchange ideas, you know. I'm not aiming for a monologue."

He pulled his mask down and took a bite of food. She nodded approvingly at that before studying his face. It made him slightly self-conscious. "What?"

"Nothing, Snowflake. Just thinking of how welcoming you are."

He almost rolled his eyes at the remark. "Sure thing, Half-Pint."

She froze and he was beginning to be afraid he had said something wrong before her face broke into a grin. "There! Now I have a nickname from you. That's a step."

He held back a chuckle. This girl was weird.

"So," she began, "Little Miss Secretary to Mr. Crocodile has a big crush on you. Do you like her?"

"No."

She huffed. "Geez, stop being so stoic. Why not?"

"Too irritating."

"Like me?"

"You're irritating," he allowed. "But tolerable."

"Gee, thanks, Barnes. That totally the way to a girl's heart, calling her tolerable," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He flinched at his old name. "Don't call me that."

"What? Barnes? It's your name, isn't it?"

"Not anymore."

There was silence for a moment before she stood up and grabbed his hand, making him flinch at the physical contact. Her deep eyes stared right into his as she spoke. "Do you want to see something amazing?"

Not thinking twice, he nodded.

Smiling, she ran out the door, still holding his hand. He kept up with her while trying to dodge all the people busy running back and forth. They reached the outer gate with nothing on them but their usual bags.

"What are we doing?" he asked her.

She hushed him before lying sweetly to the guard about why they were going outside. And by sweetly, he noticed that death threats were just the cherry on top of the cake.

"You managed to get them to let us out," he noted once they were safely driving away in a car.

"I have my specialties," she told him with a sweet smile. "Anyway, what car do you want to use? Ooh, how about that one?"

* * *

"We're in the middle of the city now," Violet told him as they drove past a particularly tall skyscraper. "Where do you think we should go?"

The Winter Soldier remained silent, continuing to aimlessly drive around. He couldn't believe that someone who managed to sneak out of HYDRA's base without getting caught could have absolutely no plan on where to go.

"How about the park? Or maybe the museum?" she said aloud, mostly muttering to herself. "There's a pastry store right down this lane, so that might be a good stop. Yeah, let's go the pastry store. It's called Pam's Pastries, I think."

He nodded before driving a while to look for the shop she was talking about. Once he found it, he parked right in front of it as she went out to look inside.

Inside the store, the aroma of freshly baked goods practically assaulted their senses. While he stayed on high alert, she looked around excitedly like a little kid in a gift store. He saw her take a deep breath before looking around and encouraging him to do the same.

"Pick some and we'll buy them," she told him, grabbing one with a lot of sugar on top of it. "Pick a drink too, if you want."

He looked around the shop; everything they sold was familiar and new at the same time. Instead of looking at the food, he focused on her. She was flitting around, gazing at everything with awe. The sight almost made him smile.

"I'm Clarice," said a voice behind him.

He turned quickly to see a woman behind the counter. Relaxing a bit, he inhaled, getting attacked by a new wave of scents. "Jim."

"She's a keeper, you're girl," the cashier woman told him.

"Oh, uh, we're not… um, you know," he stuttered.

"Together?" He nodded. "Well, that's a shame. It's been a while since anyone's been into my store for fun. People usually get too caught up in what they're told to do, or what they feel they have to do, that they forget to take a deep breath and treasure the moment."

The Winter Soldier was silent at that, staring at his partner. She was still smiling, carrying around some treats as she gazed at the menu.

"But what do I know?" she said. "I'm just an old lady. Are you done, dears?"

They ended up buying an assorted box of everything being sold, with additional ones as a complimentary treat from the owner, a cup of coffee for him and a hot chocolate drink for her. Taking everything to the car, they drove out to the nearest park and sat there for a while.

Taking a sip of hot choco, she stared at him again. "You don't have to be too guarded around me, you know. At least tell me what you're thinking about from time to time."

He stared back at her. "Why are we doing this?"

"I thought a change of scenery might help."

"With what?"

"Everything HYDRA's doing, or making us do. Other than that, I just really wanted a breath of fresh air."

There was silence again as he took a bite of one particular donut and, thinking that she would like it, he offered the rest to her.

She stared at his outstretched hand for a while and he was about to withdraw it when she took a bite. Closing her eyes, she sighed. "That was delicious, thank you. I am going to buy more of that next time. Try the one with the white frosting, by the way. It's not too sweet, but not too bland either."

The rest of the day went by like that, a bit of talking, a bit of food and a bit of sightseeing. Finally, they headed back to the base where, miraculously, nobody noticed that they were gone.

"We should do that again sometime," Violet told him.

"Maybe," the Winter Soldier replied.

Yawning, she pulled out her laptop and began typing. He assumed that it was another poem; she was particularly fond of those. Soon, she struggled to keep her eyes open as her fingers periodically slowed down before she would jolt awake again. Then, she finally fell asleep, still sitting up with the laptop in front of her.

Sighing, he stood up and went to her side of the room. He took her laptop and set it on the table before making her lie down and placing a blanket over her. Going over to his bed, he chided himself for being so stupid.

 _You're nothing but a machine_ , he reminded himself.

No hope for anything else.

Nothing but what they molded him into.

The Winter Soldier tried to read the file on Nick Fury, knowing that they would have to kill him within two days. But, he couldn't concentrate; his thoughts kept reviewing the day they just spent.

What they did reminded him of someone. For a split second, there was a memory. A face. Then, just as quickly, it disappeared.

In frustration, he headed up again to the training room and began punching the bag. It didn't help.

Her eyes kept flashing back to him, her smile, her words, her face.

The Winter Soldier froze. Something was wrong with him. He wasn't in love, but he wasn't indifferent, either. His partner had taken up most of his time.

His partner, he reminded himself. Nothing else.

He had to distance himself from her, or else nothing good would come from anything. She was dangerous to him, but, most of all, to HYDRA. If Pierce ever knew that he was like this, she would… she would… she would be killed.

Giving the punching bag another hit, he made up his mind.

Violet Winters was nothing to him.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **End of Chapter Two. Thank you for reading. I check the spelling and grammar myself, so please feel free to point out any mistakes nicely. Thanks and have a great day!**_


	3. Mission

**Chapter Three**

 **Missions**

 _Violet Winters_

 _The Queen of Death_

 _Two Days Later_

Violet knew that something was up. Her partner had been avoiding her completely for the past two days, and she had no clue why. He had went out and tried to kill him on Pierce's orders, alone. Apparently, he failed.

Still, they had a mission to complete, and they had to do it together. But he still kept his distance, looking everywhere except her. She almost protested against it when she realized it was time to move.

The two of them were positioned on the rooftop, with a small window to shoot their target. Watching the screen of her phone, she waited, watching for any complications.

"The target is confirmed to be in the room. He's with the Captain. You might want to do it within the next twenty seconds. The nurse across the room is an agent, and she's getting suspicious," she told him.

He made no motion that he heard her, except that he raised the gun's scope to his eye and shot. He immediately got up and started to clean up. She helped him before running.

She felt a shield hit the wall beside her and she struggled to jump to the next roof. Putting a hand on her com, she looked back to see the Captain right behind them. He threw his shield again and she expected it to hit Barnes when he caught it using his arm. Then, to her amazement, he threw it back at him like it was nothing.

Still, the Captain was still gaining on them, and they couldn't lead him back to base.

"Soldier, you'll have to go ahead. Wait for me for ten minutes; if I'm not there, go on ahead to base," she said in a low voice. "I have to make sure at least one of us will be escaping this time. Sorry."

He looked back ever so slightly, making her smile. Then, she turned and extended her leg, tripping the Captain and slowing him down. James jumped onto his motorcycle and rode away as she moved to punch him.

He dodged before retaliating with a blow using his shield. She quickly ducked under it and aimed a kick at his chest, using his shield to keep herself steady.

"What's the news, Captain?" she heard a faint voice from his com say.

"I'm engaging one of them; the other got away," he replied.

Taking advantage of his distraction, she hurriedly kicked him in the chest. But he blocked it and gave her a punch of his own. Dazed, she took a step backwards before she dodged another punch. In doing so, her opponent accidentally pulled back her cap, letting her ponytail get loose.

"You're a girl?" he asked her, taking a step back in confusion. "I almost didn't take you for one."

"Funny how I was going to say those exact words," she spat out, punching him in the face before grabbing her cap and running away. Panting, she jumped off the roof and blended in with the crowd in an open bar before going ahead to their designated meeting place. It was the roof of a local bookstore.

"The stars look nice tonight," she said.

As usual, there was no response. Sighing, she slumped back and closed her eyes.

"Yeah," said Barnes's voice. "I guess. I don't really have much memories to compare it to so, yeah. Are you bleeding?"

She looked at her arm. There seemed to be a gash from her shoulder to her forearm, a pretty long one, at that. "Yeah; I must have gotten it from all the broken glass. But I'm fine; I don't want to get back to base just yet. Five more minutes, please."

In response, he took off his jacket and pressed it against the wound. "It's not too deep, so I guess five minutes is fine."

"Thank you," she told him before staring at the stars again. "When I was younger, all I ever wanted was to be an astronomer. I used to just stare at the stars and watch all the constellations. I could always go out and look at Orion, though sometimes he was in weird angles."

Of course, I couldn't actually go out that much. HYDRA got me when I was a baby. It was a trade from one organization to another, and so they trained me to be a living weapon. Then, they started with that serum craze. They couldn't find anyone who was willing, so they took me. They called it the Alteration Project. I was four when they injected me with their first test."

It had weird effects, and the most memorable one was when I was seven months into the project. They realized that I was healing ten times faster than an average person when they looked at my bruises, so they cut me open to see what would happen."

As it turned out, I healed faster from inner bleeding than outer ones, and they got hooked. Every day, they would chop me open like a corpse and poke in my insides. They had become bankrupt at the time so there was no anesthesia; I felt everything they did. At one point, they even tried to test if I could grow back entire organs. I almost died. I'm sorry. You don't want to hear that."

"No," he protested. "Go on."

She shook her head and kept silent.

"I think I remember something. My nickname, maybe. Bucky."

"Bucky?"

"Yeah. People used to call me that, I think."

Violet looked at his face. He was obviously so deep in thought, thinking about something that was lifetimes away. "I guess that's what I'll call you now, then. Bucky. I'll remember that."

"How about you? Do you have a nickname?"

"Other than Half-Pint? Yeah, I do. Violet."

"What?"

"Violet. It's my nickname. My friends call me V, or Vi, or Letty."

"Letty?" She could hear the surpressed chuckle, and she laughed.

"Long story, but yes. Practically anything that you can get from Violet."

"How about Io?"

"Io?" she thought about it. "Seems fitting. Io it is, then."

"Do you find it weird that your last name is Winters? Or is that made up as well?"

"That's my mom's maiden name. I refused to take on my father's. But yes, I do find it weird now, since I'm partners with the Winter Soldier."

"I have a feeling those girls in the office are talking about us, for some reason."

"They are talking about you," she corrected. "They hate me for stealing you away from them."

"Stealing me away?"

"They think we're dating. They've made bets. Probably made up a ship name as well. Something weird like Snowstorm or whatever."

"Snowstorm? Ship name?" Bucky raised an eyebrow at the words.

"I'll teach you next time, kemosabe. For now, we have to get back to base." She took the blood soaked jacket. "Sorry about that. I'll wash it and give it back to you tomorrow."

"Keep it," he told her, standing up. "I don't need it."

Violet stared at the city below them, making a fuss over in Captain Roger's apartment as the two of them chatted about nicknames. She was glad that he tried to get her to talk; it was easy to slip back into HYDRA without something to pull her into reality.

"Io, huh," she muttered to herself. "A Greek woman cursed to never age, to forever see loved ones pass her by, to never join them nor to be released. Fitting, very fitting."

* * *

 _Claire Summers_

 _The Queen of Charm_

"Do you have her location?" Claire asked her friend.

"She's in D.C," Piage told her. "She's not alone; she's with a guy. I'm researching about him now."

"Is he S.H.I.E.L.D.?" asked Lilly.

"Doesn't seem to be," replied Piage. "Can't be sure yet, though."

"Well, she's not S.H.I.E.L.D., that's for sure. I don't see any of her names on the list," said Lilly. "Claire, anything on what she's doing?"

"Well, she came from that direction, from the apartment of the shooting. You don't suppose she was the shooter, was she?" asked Claire.

"I doubt it. It was three bullets. She only ever fires one, and she makes sure it counts. It could be the guy, though. Lilly and I could hack into some HYDRA files, but it'll take time."

"How long?" Claire asked.

"At this speed? Two days," said Lilly.

"Alright, you two. I'll go snoop around, see if anyone in the neighborhood had learned anything about them recently, or if they had any other targets ever since she disappeared."

Claire stepped out into the chill air, shoving her hands into her pockets. Violet was like a sister to her, and she would be devastated if she lost her. She had come to D.C because of her work and had received a phone call that was eavesdropping on a conversation. She had set out to find her friend immediately, but it had been two weeks since.

"Oh, Vi, where are you?" she asked, unconsciously heading towards the commotion.

Paramedics where on the scene, carrying Nick Fury's body to the hospital. Captain America was there, being treated.

"Rachel!" her friend, Sharon Carter, called out to her. She walked towards her direction. "I didn't know you were stationed here."

"Well, surprise. What happened?"

"Two shooters, one male and one female. They were on the roof of the nearby building, with barely any window for a shot. Must have been professionals."

"How's the Director?"

"Pretty bad. We're not sure if he can make it."

"Anything on the shooters' identities?"

"Other than what I just told you? Nothing."

Claire glanced at Steve Rogers. "How's the Captain?"

"Pretty shaken up. We all are. After that stunt on the high way and now this? Sounds like someone really wants S.H.I.E.L.D. to be nervous."

She moved over to Rogers. "Hi, I'm Rachel Carols. I just wanted to ask a question."

"Steve Rogers. What is it?"

She pulled out a notebook and flipped the pages, landing on a sketch of Violet in her usual get up when she was in HYDRA. "Did one of the shooters look like this?"

He stared at the notebook. "You know her?"

"I tried to follow her case. All dead ends," she half lied. "She disappeared around seven years ago, vanished into the thin air. Until today, that is."

"Who is she?"

"We call her Violet, from her clothes. She's one of the best contract killers that I've seen anywhere. Did Fury have any particular high ranking enemy?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has a million of them. Anything else that might lead us to her?"

"Her partner. She usually works alone, unless forced or paid even higher. If you can figure out who the guy is, you might find her."

"Where did you say you were from again?" he asked her.

She smiled. "I didn't. See you around, Captain."

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Hi! Thanks for reading Chapter Three. I may not update as often as I would like, but I'll try to do so bi-weekly. I'm sorry if I don't due to multiple other factors. Anyway, I'm testing out chapter length cause this is my first time actually publishing a fanfic, so I want your opinion if I should make it longer or shorter. Thanks and have a good day._**


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